Hepher is not reading much into their league table though, instead he was just pleased with his side’s response after a poor start.

“Moving one point into second and above Saracens at this stage is not important as the top four places are really tight but we are hoping to remain there and to secure a top two finish would be really nice,” he admitted.

“Newcastle are a good side and in good form and came here with a good deal of confidence but we started poorly, especially in defence.

“We were hesitant in that first half particularly when we had ball in hand as we needed to run hard instead of trying the clever ball.

“There was plenty to address at half-time but our defence was outstanding in that second half and to earn a bonus point was invaluable.”

A big thank you to our good friends @ExeterChiefs for the welcome today, and well done on the win.

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards may have been pleased with his side’s start to the game, but he claims there was no excuse for missed passes and handling errors, despite the weather conditions.

“We are disappointed with it, to be honest,” he said. “We started off well but, even in that first half, we were inaccurate to the point where we allowed them back into the game.

“We should have taken more of our try-scoring opportunities and, had we done so, we would have been a couple scores up at half-time.

“That would have been more of a measure of where we were, and was ultimately what caused us to lose the game.

“Yes the wind was strong, but it was strong for both teams and you have got to make the most of it.

“We had too many kicks which went straight into touch, too many unforced errors and we tried to force the offload on too many occasions.”